Sisters of War
by Queen of Winterfell
Summary: Erica and Breena had been best friends since childhood; they shared everything. So, naturally, when Erica accepted the werewolf bite from Derek, Breena's life was thrown into a world she never knew existed. Breena didn't think she'd survive, but her best friend needed her. So she would, for her. More info inside. Stiles-OC. Follows season 2. R&R!
1. Prologue: What Things May Come

**Sister's of War**

_**Prologue: What Things May Come**_

I used to have a pretty normal life. I'd get up, go to school, see my best friend, and then go home. The whole cycle would repeat the next day and the days after that. I was completely fine walking around my high school virtually unnoticed. I had my best friend and that's all I needed. That's all I wanted.

But then she went and got herself bitten by a werewolf. Yeah, that's right, you heard me. My best friend's a werewolf. And once she became a half-human half-woman creature, my world was turned upside down. My eyes were opened to a brand new world hidden within my own and I realized just how naive I was to begin with. Nothing is as black and white as we think it is. There were shades of grey seeping into my mundane world that I couldn't have imagined even if I tried.

I was forcefully thrown into a secret world of good, evil, deception, death, betrayal, and secrets. But I guess that came with the best friend job. The Batgirl to her Catwoman.

I've seen things that shouldn't exist. I've done things I never thought I'd do. My life was never going to be the same again. Oh, yeah, and this was just my sophomore year of high school. Two and a half more years to go in this crazy town.

Bring it on.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, so this takes place right at the beginning of the second season, when they have to fight the Kanima and everything like that. **

**Couples:  
StilesXOCScottXAllison  
JacksonXLydia  
BoydXErica  
**

**I'm going to keep some things the same, but I'll also be changing a lot of things.**

**Summary:  
Breena's life goes from ordinary to deadly the instant her best friend is bitten by a werewolf. She must grow out of her shell and understand that things aren't as black and white as they seem. As she confides in new friends and makes some new enemies, she learns what it truly means to have courage, and that anyone, doesn't matter who they are, anyone could sacrifice everything they have for true power.  
**

**Alright, so please review and let me know what you think! Some chapters will follow the episodes, but obviously there will be changes, and some chapters will have nothing to do with the episodes! **

**Lemme know what you think! :)**


	2. Care to be Ordinary

**Sisters of War**

_**Chapter One: Care to be Ordinary**_

"Don't worry, you can do this." I assured my best friend for the third time. She looked at me skeptically and wrapped her arms around her body. Her gaze lingered up the tall plastic rock wall, where Allison and Scott were racing to the top, and then back at me.

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna be able to climb that thing." Erica muttered, running her hands through her frizzy blonde hair. I looked at her sympathetically and was about to assure her again, but Allison kicked Scott's foot off the wall and he came falling down. He suspended an inch off the ground, gasping in shock, and then fell to the mat, gasping again. The people around us started laughing, including Coach Finstock.

"McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy." The man said, sitting down beside him and laughing some more. "Alright, next two!" His face grew serious and he stood up, walking through the crowd to pick off who would go against each other in climbing the wall. He stopped in front of Erica and I, and she grabbed my hand. "Stilinski, Erica, let's go. The wall." He motioned to the front of the gym and then walked back to ready the harnesses. Stiles walked to the front of the room but Erica lingered back beside me.

"You'll be okay." I whispered, rubbing her arm.

"Easy for you to say." She mumbled, not taking her eyes off the rock wall.

"I believe in you."

She turned to me then, her eyes glistening. "Breena, you _always_ believe in me."

I smiled cheekily and walked with her to the front of the room. "And I _always_ will." Coach Finstock put the harness around her waist, securing it so that if she fell—when she fell—she would be okay. She stood in front of the wall and turned back to me, her face full of fear. I gave her a double thumbs up and mouthed 'you'll do great'. She nodded slightly and then turned towards the wall and started climbing.

I crossed my arms over my chest and hoped that she could make it all the way to the top. She began to struggle, and some people laughed behind me. I turned to them with a sharp glare and they stepped away from me, covering their mouths, still laughing. I rolled my eyes. Erica was always being laughed at by the student body. It made me sick. It's like these _children_ had nothing better to do than laugh at other people—people they didn't know a thing about! But I guess that was high school for you. Just a bunch of assholes who think they can get away with whatever they want.

Erica froze as Stiles reached the top and slid back down. I could feel the dread and humility radiating through her. I cupped my hands over my mouth and cheered, "Come on, Erica, you can do it!" She looked down at me and my eyes grew wide. She was crying. I walked closer to the mat as she started hyperventilating and crying even more. _Oh no…_

Everyone started circling around the mat, looking up at her. "Erica, dizzy? Is it vertigo?" Finstock called up to her. I could have laughed out loud if I wasn't freaking out with her.

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear." Lydia said in her usual 'I-know-everything' voice. "She's just freaking out." She motioned up to my best friend with a little laugh in her voice and I could have punched her.

"Erica," Finstock called up to her again.

"I-I'm fine." She said in a small voice and struggled to move up.

I kept my eyes on her, but out of my peripheral vision I saw Stiles look at me, but I couldn't tell what the expression on his face was because I was too busy hoping my best friend wouldn't have a seizure five feet off the ground. She struggled again and then I turned to Finstock and said, "She's epileptic, can't you just give her an A and get her down?"

He turned to me in shock. "Epileptic? Why doesn't anybody bother to tell me this stuff?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're the teacher; you're supposed to know this."

He scowled at me and then looked up and said, "Erica, you're fine. Just kick off from the wall. There's, uh, there's a mat to catch you." She nodded and gingerly slid down the wall. Once she reached the ground she took the harness off and began walking through the crowd of teenagers. I followed behind her, glaring at anyone who dared to laugh at her.

I wasn't intimidating.

They laughed anyway.

She tried to smile it off, but I knew she was fighting the urge to cry. And that pissed me off even more.

She didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve any of what these people put her through.

**-X-**

"I made a complete ass out of myself." Erica groaned from beside my locker.

"You did not." I sighed, piling the school books I needed for homework into my book bag. I shut my locker and turned to her with a small smile. "You did great."

She rolled her eyes as we started down the emptying hallway. I was extremely glad it was the end of the day, but not as glad as Erica; after what had happened in gym (and it was seriously nothing) everyone had been pointing and laughing at her more than usual. And I didn't see the point of it. So she freaked out climbing the wall? A lot of people freaked out climbing that thing!

"I looked like a cry baby." She muttered.

"Hey, I couldn't make it up the wall, either." I pointed out as we stood in front of Mr. Bennett's classroom. I was staying after to help him grade some history essays for extra credit. And I so desperately needed the extra credit; history was not a strong subject for me.

Erica looked at me, and I knew she wanted to say 'Yeah, but you don't get laughed at and pointed at when you walk down the hallway.' And it was true, I didn't. She did, though. All the time. Every day. It's like just because she had seizures she had to be the butt of all of their jokes. There was nothing funny about having no control over your body sometimes. And there was absolutely nothing funny about being at risk of going into a coma every time you had a long seizure.

"How late are you staying?" She asked, changing the subject.

I shrugged and looked into the classroom. Four large stacks of essays sat on Mr. Bennett's desk. I could barely see the old man behind them. I turned back to Erica and emitted a large sigh. "As long as it takes to get all of those graded."

"You want me to come back and pick you up?" The one horrible thing about not having a car of my own was that I depended on Erica to pick me up from school and drop me off back home. (A bus didn't come to my house because I lived out in the middle of nowhere.) And I hated that.

"You don't have to do that."

She rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, I do. I'm not gonna let you walk home. And you don't have the money for a bus or a taxi or whatever." She did have a point… "Just text me when you're done and I'll be here in five minutes." I nodded. There was no use in arguing with her. She was hardheaded, and she would win the argument, anyway. And plus, my mom would have a heart attack if I walked home in the dark.

We hugged and waved bye to each other, then I entered Mr. Bennett's classroom and prepared myself for reading a few dozen poorly written essays about the Cold War. Oh yeah, this was going to be a long evening.

Four hours later, I was done. Thankfully. I thought my brain was about to explode from the lack of creativity my fellow classmates had. I mean, yeah, there were only so many topics they could have chosen from, but they could have at least made them interesting. Most of them just copied and pasted from Wikipedia. Big shocker there.

I told Mr. Bennett goodnight and texted Erica that I was finished and would be waiting for her in the front of the school. I walked past the gym, and from the open door I saw some people standing in the middle of the gym floor in a circle. Curiosity got the better of me and I walked in.

"What's going on?" I asked the girl next to me.

"Erica fell off the wall." She answered.

"She's having a seizure." A boy said.

My eyes grew wide and panic flushed through my body. I dropped my book bag and ran to the front of the circle, where Scott, Stiles, and Allison were looming over her body. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and bent down between Scott and Allison. "Move." I said sternly. Without hesitation, they got up and I shoved my phone in Stiles' hand. I grabbed Erica's hand and turned her over on her left side. She clutched my hand tightly as her body shook violently. "Give me your jacket." I looked up at Allison and she nodded, taking it off and handing it to me. I put it under Erica's head and then turned to Stiles. "Call 911." Normally, she would just go to the nurse after an episode, but it was seven p.m. and the nurse was gone. Just to be safe, she needed to go to the hospital. My best friend grunted beneath me and she clutched my hand tighter. I looked up at Stiles to see if he was on the phone, but he was just staring at me. "Oh, for Christ's sake…" I yanked my phone from his hand and dialed 911 myself.

"911, what is your emergency?" The female operator's robotic voice greeted me.

"I'm in the gym at Beacon Hills High School. My best friend just had a seizure." I said as Erica's body slowly stopped jerking and she began breathing heavily. Her grip never loosened on my hand, though. I wedged my phone between my cheek and my shoulder and smoothed some tangled hair from her face. Then she started shaking again and my heart dropped. She's never had two in a row.

"An ambulance is on the way."

"Please hurry, she's having another one." I dropped the phone and held her tighter. I turned back, ready to yell at everyone watching, but didn't have to because Allison, Scott, and Stiles were making everyone leave. I was so thankful for that. And I was desperately hoping that none of them had taken a picture of video of this, like they would normally do. I was about to turn away when Stiles looked back at me, smiling sadly. I smiled back and then turned my attention back to Erica, who had stopped shaking and was now breathing heavily, still holding my hand.

"Did you see this?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

"No…" I whispered.

I never saw when she was about to have a seizure.

I had premonitions about bad things. Bad things that happened to people. Death, accidents, big things like that. But I only saw little glimpses, and I never saw the persons face. The visions didn't happen all the time; they chose when they wanted to give me a headache from hell. Oh yeah, they hurt, but it was bearable, at least for the moment.

The visions started when I was ten, and they've continued since then. Erica was the only one who knew about them. Anyone else would just think that I was crazy. Or looking for attention. Or both.

But they were real. And seeing death a lot kind of sucked.

**-X-**

I waited outside the examination room Erica was in anxiously. I rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital, but since I wasn't family they made me wait outside while the nurse asked her questions. When the door opened, Nurse McCall walked out and motioned that I could go in. I gave her a small smile and shut the door behind me.

Erica was lying on the examination table in a hospital gown. It'd been a while since she'd had to pay the hospital a visit. Last time it was because she stopped taking her medication, and I'd bet all the money I had that this time it was for the exact same thing.

She opened her tired eyes and looked up at me. But before she could speak I asked, "Why'd you stop taking it this time?"

"You know why." She sighed. And I did, I just wish that she would stop. The medicine made her gain weight and gave her acne. But all of that was better than her falling into a coma and dying.

"Maybe they could switch your medicine."

"Doubt it." She grumbled. She looked absolutely exhausted. I walked over to her and gave her a hug, then kissed her on the forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Please take your medicine." She heard the begging in my voice, so for my benefit, she nodded that she would. I gave her a skeptical look but dropped it. I didn't know how many times she was going to put herself through the seizures just so that she wouldn't gain weight. I mean, it didn't even make her gain that much weight in the first place!

I waved to her as I exited the room and started down the hallway back towards the waiting room. I passed by a tall dark man and made brief eye contact with him. My breath caught in my throat. His eyes glowed red for a millisecond and then he looked away. I turned around, but he was gone. Chills ran up my body and I speed walked the rest of the way to the front of the hospital.

When I got there I was extremely surprised to see Stiles sitting in the waiting room. He jumped up when he saw me and began walking up to me. I raised an eyebrow. What the hell was he doing here?

"Hey Breena, how's Erica?" He asked. I looked at him for a minute before answering; he actually looked genuinely concerned, and I should have been flattered, but all I could wonder was why? Why did he care? He wasn't my friend and he certainly wasn't Erica's friend. We barely even spoke one word to each other at school except for the casual "hi" in the hallway or "can I see your homework" for chemistry class.

With my ever growing silence, he raised an eyebrow at me. Before he could repeat the question I shook my head and said, "She's fine." I walked past him and out the front doors. He followed after me, which I was glad for, because I was still talking. "She stopped taking her medicine. I hope her doctor changes her prescription. The medicine she's on now makes her gain weight and it gives her really bad acne and that just makes her an even easier target for those assholes at school to make fun of her. They piss me off so bad. If they just took the time to…" I trailed off and shook my head, laughing a little. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. People are assholes, right? Assholes will be assholes." I turned to Stiles to see him staring at me with wide eyes. "What?" I felt my cheeks heating up because of my little outburst.

I _sooo_ shouldn't have said all of that.

"Nothing…" He finally said. "I just, I've never heard you talk this much before. Or cuss." Now my face was a tomato, I was sure.

"Sorry." I mumbled, looking away from him. The crisp night air ruffled my clothes and I shivered, wishing that I had worn a thicker jacket. Fall in Beacon Hills was always beautiful, but it got below forty degrees here, and while they probably didn't seem like cold weather to some people, we Californians thought it was freezing. Or at least, I did.

"No, no. It's not a bad thing. Definitely not a bad thing…" Stiles trailed off, zipping up his hoodie. I smiled a little and turned towards him. I was about to say something, but then my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I sighed and took it out. MOM flashed on the screen.

"It's my mom. Hold on." I turned away from him and moved a few inches away. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey honey, everything okay?" I had called her when we arrived at the hospital, explaining to her that I was going to be late because Erica had a seizure when she "came to pick me up".

"Uh, yeah. She just stopped taking her medicine again." I muttered, kicking at some rocks on the side walk.

"I feel so bad for her… How are you getting home?"

I shrugged. "I'm just going to walk."

"Are you sure? I could get your dad—"

"No." I said quickly. "No. It's fine. I'll be fine. See you soon." I hung up before she could argue. My dad went back to work at eight, and it was nine right now. I couldn't make him get off of work to come pick me up and take me back home and then back to work again. It would waste gas. Gas that he needed. And his pay would get docked. And we so desperately needed the money. I turned back around to Stiles and walked backwards off the sidewalk. "Okay, so I gotta go. Thanks for sticking around and making sure that Erica was okay." I walked through the parking lot towards the sidewalk near the street that would take me home.

"Wait," Stiles called after me. I didn't bother to slow down my walking; his legs were longer than mine, it wouldn't take him long to catch up. "Can I give you a ride?" He offered, stepping in front of me, cutting me off.

"I'm walking."

"You shouldn't be out alone." He pressed on.

"I'll be fine." I walked past him again and said over my shoulder, "It's not like a monster is going to attack me."

And I could have sworn that I heard him mumble, "It just might…"

Okay, so maybe taking that ride from Stiles would have been better than walking seven miles back to my house. All alone. In the dark. In the cold. —

Thunder pounded the sky and it was like the clouds opened up and dumped an ocean all over me.

— And now in the rain.

"Son of a bitch…" I hissed, pulling my hood over my head. Like any help that would do, though, because I was already soaked. A car honked behind me and I moved farther into the grass so that it could pass without hitting me, but once it reached me it slowed down. The passenger window rolled down and I didn't make eye contact with whoever was behind the wheel.

_Just keep walking, Breena…_

_Just keep walking…_

_Pay the creeper no attention and you won't die…_

"The offer still stands!" Stiles shouted at me, his voice barely audible due to the harshness of the rain. I lifted my head and laughed at the goofy smile that was plastered on his face.

"Where you following me?" I shouted back.

"Would it be creepy if I said yes?"

We stared at each other for a few seconds, the rain continuing to drench me. Finally, I gave up and opened the passenger door. I slid in the seat and slammed the door shut, thankful that he had the heat on because I felt like a popsicle. He reached behind his seat and pulled out a t-shirt, handing it to me to dry off with. I graciously took it.

"Yes." I said as I began ringing out my long braid.

"Yes what?"

I turned to him with a playful smirk. "Yes it's creepy that you followed me. But thanks."

He nodded and a triumphant grin took over his face. "You're welcome. Now where am I going?"

"Just keep going straight. At the stop sign take a right. It's the seventh house on the left."

He took my directions and we made small talk about nothing in particular. I caught him glancing at me every now and then out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't make anything of it.

Little did I know that this was the last normal day I would ever have; everything was about to change.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! First official chapter! I'm so happy this story has reviews already! Please keep reviewing! Reviews make me happy.**

**:)**

**And like I said, since this fanfic will follow the episodes (even though I'm making some drastic changes (; ) I will be using some of the dialogue from the episodes. So. Just thought I'd let you know about that so no one would complain or point it out or something.**

**Please review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Beauty Is a Beast

**Sisters of War**

_**Chapter Two: Beauty Is a Beast**_

Erica wasn't at school the next day.

I tried calling and texting her, but she never answered. I was insanely worried about her, but if anything bad had happened to her, I would have seen it, right?

Well, I mean, I wouldn't have even known if it was her in the first place, not being able to see the faces of the victims and all.

I tried to tell myself that she was fine as the day progressed, that she was just out sick, but I was believing it less and less with each passing hour. If I lost Erica, I didn't know what I would do; I would lose myself. We've been best friends since kindergarten. She was the only one who knew the strange things I could see. She didn't care that I was a wallflower and I didn't care that she had seizures (well, I _cared_, but you know what I mean).

Bottom line is that to lose her would be to lose everything…

I was at my locker, putting my things away before I headed to lunch, when I saw Jackson angrily grab Lydia and pulled her behind a wall. My eyes grew wide. From where I was standing I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could clearly see how pissed off he was and how scared and confused she was.

It was a lover's quarrel, most likely, but even so, I was hoping that he wouldn't hit her. Jackson wasn't the nicest person around (okay, he was a total asshole) but I doubted even he would hit a girl. None-the-less his girlfriend.

But still…

"You ruined everything!" He shouted in her face. She jumped back and let a gasp escape her perfectly glossed lips. She clutched her binder to her chest and watched him walk away with wide and misty eyes. A few people turned to look at them and then went on with their own business when they figured that nothing else was going to happen. Jackson walked away and then turned back to her, a solemn and regretful look on his face. For a second I thought he was going to turn back and apologize to her, but instead he just walked away with his fists tightly clenched, leaving the redhead staring after him in pain.

I shut my locker and was about to walk over and ask if she was okay, but she bolted down the hallway and into the girl's bathroom. I followed after her and pressed my ear to the door. From inside I heard muffled sniffling. She was crying.

I didn't know Lydia, and sometimes I didn't like her all that much because, well, let's face it, she could be a total bitch, but even still, she was crying, and I felt the need to make sure she was okay.

I pushed open the bathroom door and the crying stopped. "Lydia, you okay?" I called out to her.

There was silence for a few seconds before she said, "I'm fine. Just something in my eye." And I took that as my cue to not press the subject. I mean, she and I weren't friends, so I didn't expect her to rush out of the stall and into my arms so that I could comfort her.

"Okay…" I back-stepped towards the door. I waited a few minutes and the crying started again. "Okay." I sighed and walked out. I felt bad about leaving her there, just crying over a stupid guy who had just chewed her out for something I didn't even know, but there was nothing I could do if she wasn't willing to talk to me. And I wasn't going to push her to do something that she didn't want to do.

I shoved my hands in my jacket pockets and went to lunch, hoping that they'd at least have something that didn't look like goop to eat.

Hoping was futile.

There was goop.

I grimaced as I swirled my fork around in what was supposed to be spaghetti and meat balls. But the noodles were too soggy, the sauce was grey, and the meat balls could have barely been considered balls at all. I dropped my fork and jumped when my phone started buzzing. I hurriedly reached into my pocket, hoping that it was Erica returning one of my twenty text messages. My face fell when I saw that it was my mother.

_-Hope U R having a gr8 day! Luv U XOXOXO_

Oh, mom. _Why_?

I could have slammed my head into a brick wall. Ever since my mom got a phone she's been all about the 'text slang'. She texted me about thirty times a day, saying absolutely nothing important. I groaned, sending her a quick reply that I loved her too, and then shoved my phone back into my pocket. I grabbed my tray and was about to get up to throw it away, but froze. My eyes grew wide and my mouth flopped open.

There, walking through the cafeteria doors, was Erica. But it didn't look like Erica. She was wearing cheetah print heels, a black leather mini skirt, a white tank top, a black leather a jacket, _makeup_ (that never happened!), and her usually tangled blonde hair was curled and shiny.

She looked _hot_. I mean, she was always beautiful, but…_damn_.

"Holy shit…" I breathed. The whole cafeteria was in awe, staring at her like they had just seen an angel fall from heaven and land right in the middle of the room. She sauntered over to a table, took some guys red apple, and chomped a bite out of it. She shot me a smirk, and then darted one over to Scott and Stiles. Then she turned and walked out.

Just like that.

She didn't even say anything to me!

Scott and Stiles ran from the cafeteria and, finally getting feeling back into my limbs, I dashed after them. I followed them down the stairs and out the front doors of the school, where they stood blocking my view. I pushed in front of them and saw my best friend smile and get into the passenger seat of some guys black car. He was wearing sun glasses, but I _knew_ him.

He was the same guy that passed by me in the hospital last night.

The guy with the glowing red eyes. At least, I thought they were glowing.

What the hell was Erica doing with him?

The guy looked over at us and smirked like he was in on some joke with the two boys. Erica waved, then he looked at her and sped out of the parking lot, leaving us standing on the steps of the school like lost puppies. I turned to the two boys, who looked less confused than I was, but equally as shocked.

"What the _hell_ was that?" I demanded, my hands on my hips. Stiles turned away from me while Scott looked a little guilty. "_Who_ the hell was that? _What_ the hell did he do to my best friend? _Where_ the hell is he taking her? _Why_ do you two look like you know exactly what's going on here?" I fired a million questions at them and their hesitance to answer them grew.

Finally, Scott said, "Nothing, Breena, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

My eyes grew wide and my anger fumed. "Don't you _dare _tell me not to worry about it. That's my best friend! And he's done something to her and you guys know something about it, _I know_ you do." The looks on their faces told me everything; they knew what was going on and they were going to tell me one way or another. I may not have been intimidating in the slightest, but I knew where to punch and kick, and I would be more than willing to hurt them so that they could never have children if it meant finding out what happened to Erica. "So tell me. Right now." I demanded, gritting my teeth.

"Okay, fine," Stiles said after a moment of silence. Scott shot him a surprised look and Stiles mumbled, "She's her best friend…" And then Scott's expression changed to something of understanding.

"Still here, you know." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

Stiles sighed and looked at me. "We'll tell you, but we can't tell you here." He looked around at all the wandering eyes and led me back into the school with Scott behind us. "Meet us at the ice skating rink at eleven and we'll explain everything then."

I rolled my eyes in aggravation. "How the hell am I supposed to get there? Erica's the one who drives me places and we only have one car, which my dad uses to go to work at night."

"Then I'll come pick you up. I remember where you live."

"Fine." I didn't question why the hell we were going to the ice skating rink. Today was weird enough already, and I wasn't quite prepared for more weirdness just yet.

I turned on my heal and headed towards my fourth period. Lunch had been over for five minutes now, and I was unquestionably late, but I didn't care.

"You may not like what you hear." Stiles called behind me.

"Yeah, I kinda already figured that." I mumbled under my breath.

And oh, I would definitely _not_ like what I would hear.

**-X-**

I tried texting and calling Erica every chance I got for the rest of the day, but she didn't reply to any of my messages. I was getting frantic, trying to get in touch with her. I wished that she would have said one word to me when she walked into the cafeteria that afternoon. I wished that she would have talked to me before getting into that damn car with that damn man.

I wish that she didn't even get into that damn car with that damn man.

I ended up walking home from school. Thankfully it didn't rain.

I tried to act normal for the rest of the day so that my parents wouldn't worry about anything. They already worried about so much; they didn't need to worry about me, either.

Stiles was waiting in my driveway exactly at eleven. My dad had left for work long before then, and my mom was already in bed, so I didn't have to explain why I was leaving so late on a school night. Unless my mom got up and saw that I wasn't in my bed. And then she would call me freaking out. And I would be _so_ dead.

I tried to not think about that.

I was out the front door before Stiles could get out of his jeep and knock on the door. I slowly closed the door behind me, making sure that the hinges didn't creak. I shoved my house keys in my jeans pocket and zipped up my hoodie against the harsh, dry wind. The passenger door to Stiles' jeep opened and Scott got out. I climbed into the back of the jeep and then Scott got back in and we headed to the rink.

Allison and Lydia were waiting in the front of the large building when we pulled up. Scott hurriedly got out of the jeep and walked up to Allison, throwing his arms around her and giving her a deep kiss.

_Oh._

So this was like a date-night-thing.

Talk about date crasher.

Lydia gave me a small smile as I waited beside her for Stiles to unlock the front doors. I smiled back at her and shared an equally as friendly smile with Allison. I was surprised they didn't ask me what I was doing here. Stiles finally pushed open the doors and turned on the lights to the building. I didn't care if he was the Sheriff's son or not, if a cop rolled past this place and saw that the lights were on when it should have been closed, we were all going to go to jail.

And then my mom really _would_ kill me.

Scott and Stiles hung back with me while the other two girls rushed to get some skates. "Okay," Scott said, turning to me. "You want the truth?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that kinda why I'm here?" Stiles held in a laugh and I kept my face stoic, waiting for Scott to get to the truth I'd been eagerly waiting to hear all day.

"That man who was with Erica is Derek."

"Derek Hale? The one who was framed for those murders a few months ago?" My pulse accelerated.

Scott nodded. "He's a werewolf. An alpha, which means that he has the power to turn other people into werewolves. Erica is a werewolf. And so am I." He said seriously. His and Stiles' expressions were so serious, I almost believed them.

Almost.

If it wasn't so ridiculously _stupid_.

My heartbeat quickened and I could feel my anger bubbling. I curled my hands into fists and tried to contain my white hot rage. "You're telling me my best friend is a werewolf?"

The two boys shared a shrug and then Stiles said, "Yeah, that sounds about right."

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Do you think this is funny?" Oh god, I seriously wanted to punch something. Namely, the two idiot liars in front of me.

"We're not laughing." Scott said. The look on his face was pleading with me to believe him. But I couldn't. I mean, it was crazy. Right? Werewolves only existed in movies and there was no way in hell my best friend was one.

Right?

I ran my tongue over my teeth and clicked my tongue. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Allison and Lydia had already started to skate and were paying us not attention. I wondered if they were in on this little game. Finally, an idea sparked in my head. To catch them in a lie, I said, "Prove it to me."

Scott's face fell. "What?"

I smirked triumphantly. "Prove to me that you're a…werewolf." I nodded my head and motioned with my hand up and down his body and then crossed my arms over my chest. Stiles ran his hands over his face and then slapped his hand down on his best friend's shoulder. Scott looked at him in wonder and they both nodded. Scott then turned back to me and walked closer. His eyes started glowing yellow. My eyes grew wide and I backed up against the wall.

_What!?_

Then his face got harrier. And his nails grew longer. He had _fangs_! But just as I saw his supernatural transformation, he was human again and giving me a sorry look. "Do you believe me now?" He asked softly.

I blinked several times, trying to clear that imagine from my mind.

No.

No.

_No!_

"Breena…" Stiles stepped closer to me and my frantic gaze shifted to him and he froze, giving me space. I felt claustrophobic all of a sudden. I felt like the walls were going to cave in on me. I felt like I was in some cheap teen horror movie

"This is crazy. This is fucking crazy." I whispered harshly. A nervous laugh trailed up my throat and escaped my parted lips. From my peripheral vision I saw Allison give me a sympathetic look, and then she went back to skating with her best friend. I clamped my hand over my mouth to keep a sharp gasp contained.

She _knew_? She knew about all of this?

"Breena…" Scott reached a hand out to me and I jerked farther against the wall. My hand fell from my mouth and my breathing came out in shallow pants like I had just ran a marathon.

"Holy shit." I muttered. "You're a were—" My volume had risen to a shrill when Stiles smashed his hand over my mouth. I slanted my eyes and looked up at his anxious face.

"Do not say the were-word." He hissed in my ear. "Lydia doesn't know."

I raised a brow and waited until he removed his hand before I spoke, my tone much quieter than it had been before. "But isn't she your friend?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugged.

"Then why the hell doesn't she know that Scott's the were-word!? Don't you think she should know that?" I demanded. My heartbeat was erratic and I felt like I was going to pass out.

Werewolves were real.

I was going to school with one.

My best friend was turned into one by another one.

God only knew how many more there were in this town.

This day had been too much already, and this night had only made it worse.

"It's safer that she doesn't!" Stiles argued.

"Not knowing could get her killed!" I threw my arms in the air and tried to keep my voice level so that the two girls skating wouldn't overhear. "It's like, a rule that all friends of the were-word should know that they've become the were-word so that their enemies don't kill them! Don't you watch the movies?"

Scott rolled his eyes at my imagination. "Breena, this isn't a movie."

"Well it might as well be." I started laughing again, and dropped my arms at my waist. "I mean, _shit_." I exaggerated the last word dramatically. "Oh, I need alcohol." I pressed my hands to my temples and squeezed my eyes shut.

This couldn't be happening.

This _shouldn't_ be happening.

Maybe I was dreaming.

I pinched myself, hard, but nothing happened (besides my arm now stinging). So I wasn't dreaming. This was real. All of this was real.

_Just kill me now._

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't be in this building anymore. I couldn't be around any of them anymore. My world was spinning. With panic rising in my chest, I turned and stomped towards the front doors we had come through earlier. I had to get out of here. I needed fresh air. I needed a psychologist. Hell, I needed all the medication in the world to get me through this.

"Wait, where are you going?" Stiles cried after me.

I turned my head back towards him but kept walking. "Hopefully to get hit by a car. Care to join me?" I offered wholeheartedly.

"Wait, Breena!" I heard him running after me and that only made me speed up my walking. "Wait!" He growled in frustration and grabbed my arm. I could have yanked away and started in a sprint down the street, but I didn't. I didn't know why I didn't. I just, didn't. I bit my lip as I let Stiles turn me around to face him. I closed my eyes on the hot tears forming in my eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. A few tears fell. "Am I _okay_?" My voice came out in a harsh, choked whisper.

"I know it's a lot to take in…" He let go of my arm and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

"_A lot to take in_? Did you _see_ that?!" I motioned back towards the building that Scott and the two girls were still in and then ran my shaky hands through my hair. "He—he turned into a werewolf and my—Erica—she's a…this should be impossible!" I cried, more tears falling down my face. They were frustration tears, to say the least.

"It should but it's not." Stiles looked down at me and from the twinkle of the stars overhead I could see in his eyes that he truly was sorry that I knew all of this. "Breena, this is real and you can't tell anyone."

I snorted a laugh and hugged my arms close to my body. "I doubt anyone would believe me."

A small smile tugged at his lips. "You're probably right…"

"This is not how I wanted to spend my sophomore year." I mumbled, looking at the concrete.

"Trust me; it wasn't my ideal plan, either." He admitted. "But it's happening and whatever happens next, you're involved in it now, too." He threw his arm around my shoulder and yanked me close to him. If it was lighter outside, I was one-hundred percent sure that he would see a blush creep up across my face. "It comes with the job." I could hear the smile and faint sadness in his voice.

"The job?" I questioned with raised eyebrows.

"The best friend job." He clarified.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up at him. "So, what, I'm like the Batgirl to her Catwoman?"

Stiles smirked at my reference and then said, with a light shrug, "Yeah, something like that."

Oh.

_Perfect._

* * *

**A/N: In the process of writing chapter three!  
**

**Please review and let me know what you think! :)**


	4. Ice Queen

**Sisters of War**

_**Chapter Three: Ice Queen**_

I didn't have the best life.

But it could have been a whole lot worse.

There were a lot of family problems. My parents didn't hit me or anything like that, and for that I was fortunate. But you can still have a hard life without your parents hitting you.

"_Don't ever be poor, baby, don't ever be poor." _

That's something my father always told me after my mom broke her back. I used to laugh it off and say that we weren't poor, and he would just laugh with me. But I knew the truth; my father worked two jobs and barely made enough money to get us by. My mother's disability check was just enough to pay for her medication and the endless hospital bills every month. And they wouldn't let me get a job because they wanted me to focus on my grades and get as many scholarships as possible for college. They didn't want me to stress even more, but I was already reaching my peak.

I got ready with a quickness that next morning because I overslept. I threw on the first pair of clothes I saw: dark blue jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, a green jacket, and white converse. I ran my hands through my hair and twisted it in its normal long braid. I grabbed my house keys, cell phone, and book bag and then ran down the stairs. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking her morning coffee and reading one of her many Edgar Allan Poe books.

"Morning sweetie." She mumbled, not looking up from her book.

"Morning." I kissed her on the temple, grabbed the last apple from the counter and then started towards the front door. "See you later, love you!" I heard her shout a 'love you, too' as I shut the door. Erica still hadn't bothered to contact me, and my dad had already left for work, so the only other option I had was to drag my old bike out from behind the house and haul my ass to school.

Which is exactly what I did.

I made it to school with two minutes left to spare before I would be counted late to first period. I was rushing through the hallway when I saw Erica. My eyes grew wide and my speed walking slowed to a stop. She had Scott pressed up against a set of lockers. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but on the other end of the hallway I saw Allison looking at the two of them with silent, masked envy.

Scott grabbed Erica by the wrists and held her away from him. He looked back to where Allison had been standing, and in seeing that she was gone, he pushed Erica away and stormed down the hallway in the direction that Allison had been only moments before. Erica laughed and put her hands on her hips. When she turned around and saw me staring at her with shock, her smirk faded and her face showed regret.

She began walking towards me, and I thought she was going to talk to me, but she walked right past me without even a glance. I stood in shock for a few seconds, then I whipped around and shouted, "Hey! You're just going to keep ignoring me!?" Several people stopped to listen, probably hoping for a fight, but Erica didn't even glance back to me. She kept walking. Like she was walking right out of my life. And I didn't even bother to go after her. I hunched my shoulders and sighed heavily. "Un-freaking-believable." I muttered under my breath and then the late bell rang. I was late to first period, but that didn't even matter anymore.

If she didn't want to talk to me, then fine. She was only stabbing the knife deeper into my chest.

I zoned out for the first half of the day. And before I knew it, it was time for lunch, but I didn't have an appetite. I approached the empty table Allison was sitting at in the cafeteria and motioned if I could sit down with her. "Oh, yeah, of course." She said cheerily with a smile. I had a few classes with the pretty brunette, but I never really talked to her. I never really had a reason to until this point. "How are you doing with knowing all of this?" She asked, her voice low.

I shrugged a shoulder and picked at the chili on my plate. "It's…a lot to take in, but I'll be okay."

She nodded and rested her hand on my wrist. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here." I nodded and she leaned farther across the table. "I'm serious, Breena. Some bad stuff's going to happen soon and…it might be overwhelming. I want us to be friends, okay? We're all in this together, now." I looked up to her for being so strong. Last night while Stiles was driving me home he explained everything that had happened a few weeks ago with Peter Hale, Scott, Derek, and Kate Argent. Allison was probably one of the strongest people I knew, to be thrown into all of that blindly. Well, they were all thrown into it blind.

I nodded again, and this time, I meant it. "Yeah, okay. Thanks, Allison." I gave her a little smile and she returned it.

She was about to say something more, but then Scott sat down in the chair behind her and she let go of my wrist and leaned back in her chair. (Stiles also told me that Scott and Allison couldn't be seen together because her family was, well, to put it mildly, crazy.) "I know how it looked, but she came up to me." Scott mumbled.

Allison rolled her eyes. "I'm not jealous."

_Bullshit._

"You're not?" I could see the smile in his voice.

"She's with Derek now, isn't she? Like Isaac." She shot me a sympathetic frown and then she said, "You can't get caught up in the middle of this. Don't you feel what's happening? My grandfather coming here, Derek turning Erica and Isaac, it's like battle lines are being drawn."

"I know."

"There's always crossfire." Her voice was rising just as much as the hairs on the back of my neck. So it was true, then. A lot of shit was about to go down, and like it or not, we were all going to be caught in the middle of it.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't just stand by. I can't pretend to be normal." The urgency in Scott's voice was almost overwhelming.

Allison laughed a little. "I don't want you to be normal; I want you to be alive." And with that, she got up from the table and left. Stiles ran in that moment and up to Scott. I got up from my table and joined the two of them.

"Scott, look." Stiles pointed at the empty table a few feet away from us. "You see that?"

"What?" Scott shrugged, looking confused and a bit agitated. "It's an empty table."

"Yeah, but _who's_ empty table?"

My eyes grew wide. "Boyd…" I whispered. I looked over at the two of them with round, fearful eyes.

_Oh shit…_

"I'll go to the ice rink and see if he's there. If he's not at home, call me." Scott said to Stiles as the three of us walked down the hallway after lunch. They were making plans for after school to find Boyd. And oh god, we were so desperately hoping Derek hadn't gotten to him yet. When Stiles didn't say anything, Scott asked, "What?"

Stiles stopped walking and turned to his best friend. "It's just…maybe we should let him. It's Boyd, you know." Scott look dumbfounded and Stiles shrugged. "You said Derek's giving them a choice, right? Maybe this one isn't totally your responsibility."

Scott grabbed his shoulder and we started walking again. "They all are. And you know this thing's going to get out of control and that makes me responsible."

Stiles sighed and shrugged heavily, giving in. "Alright, I'm with you."

"Yeah, I'm in." I finally spoke up. Both of the boys turned to me with wide eyes and I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for their objection.

"Breena, it's too dangerous." Stiles said.

I clicked my tongue and laughed. "Yeah, whatever." They both opened their mouths to argue but I cut them off. "Hey, you can't tell me about all of this stuff and then not expect me to be a part of it. So, I'm in. Or do you really want to argue with me?" I gave them both a pointed look, daring them to even try. I might not have been as hardheaded as Erica, but I was still pretty stubborn.

Scott growled, rubbing his temples and said, "Fine." I smiled triumphantly and then we carried on to our fourth period.

**-X-**

Stiles and I pulled up to Boyd's five minutes after school ended. He jumped out of the jeep and ran up to the house, banging on the front door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something blonde move. I shifted in my seat and I saw Erica at the hood of the jeep. She yanked something out of the engine and then like a flash of light, she was gone. In a slight daze, I got out of the car and inspected the engine. She pulled out a piece, I had no idea what it was called, but I was pretty sure we wouldn't be going anywhere if that wasn't in the jeep.

"Shit…" I ran up to the house, where Erica was talking to Stiles. She hit him on the head with the piece of metal she took from his jeep and then chucked it across the street. Then she turned to me and was gone. "Are you serious right now?" I ran across the street and hastily found the metal she threw and then ran back to the jeep. I placed it in the right spot, twisted a few screws, and then climbed into the driver's side of the vehicle. I was glad Stiles left the keys in the ignition. I gave the keys a twist and when the jeep started I breathed a sigh of relief.

I got back out of the jeep and ran to the front of the house where Stiles lay unconscious. I gave myself a little pep talk and then reached down and tried to haul him to his feet. Yeah, that didn't work. So I did the only thing I knew how to do to get him to the jeep; I dragged him. I dragged him all the way to the jeep. When I reached the passenger door I was slightly out of breath and my arms were hurting, but that was nothing compared to what Stiles was going to be feeling when he woke up.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and used all the strength I had to lift him into the jeep. It took me several tries, but I finally got him in. I buckled his seat belt and then ran around to the other side, where I jumped in again and sped off towards the ice rink.

I slammed on the breaks just as I pulled into the building parking lot. Stiles shifted in the passenger seat, hitting his head on the window. I cringed, thinking of the pain he was going to be in when he woke up. But I didn't have time to think about that now. Right now, I had to stop Scott and Boyd from killing each other, because I was sure that's what was happening inside that ice skating rink this very moment.

"Sorry, Stiles…" I muttered and then ran out the jeep, leaving the driver's door hanging open. The door to the building was ajar, so I slid right in. I bent down as I walked, making sure that the people on the ice couldn't see me. I peeked behind the wall that led to the opening of the ice and listened carefully to what they were saying. I couldn't hear much, but from what I heard, Isaac and Erica were happy that they were werewolves, and Scott was trying to convince Boyd to not take the bite. I had a feeling he already had, though. And that man Erica got in the car with, Derek, he was just standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Looking rather amused, actually.

I was about to walk out onto the ice, but Scott crouched down and when he stood back up, he was in his wolf form and baring his fangs at my best friend and a fugitive from the law. Erica and Isaac didn't hesitate; they lunged at him and fists and claws and fangs were clashing everywhere. Boyd stayed on the Zamboni and Derek just watched from inches away.

They weren't going to stop; they were going to kill each other.

I had to do something.

I stood up and put one foot on the ice, only to be yanked back harshly. I turned around, suppressing a gasp. I stared into the fearful eyes of Stiles. I winced back and whistled when I saw the left side of his temple; it was black and blue and made his eye a little swollen. "What the hell are you doing?" He hissed, letting me go.

"I was going to stop them." I said simply.

He squinted and made a face at me like I was stupid. "You'll get yourself killed!" He exclaimed.

"If I don't stop them they'll kill each other!" I screeched, throwing me arms out towards the ice. Stiles opened his mouth to argue, but was cut off when a gasp of agony traveled through our ears. I turned sharply and saw Erica get slammed into the ice. The thick ice shattered around her and she panted, trying to get up. Scott kicked her in the stomach and I could feel my blood boil. Isaac jumped on Scott's back and dug his claws into his neck. They both struggled but my eyes shifted back to Erica, who was struggling to get back up.

I looked back at Stiles, who was pleading with me with his eyes to stay put. I sighed, nodding and giving up. He relaxed and then I grabbed my chance and ran out onto the ice before he could grab me again. "Wait! Breena! Wait! Damn it, get back here!" He hissed. I tried my best to ignore him. I slipped and fumbled all over myself on the ice. I didn't know how to ice skate, but I betted I would have been better with the blades instead of in tennis shoes, falling all over myself. I did my best to stay on my feet, and I did a pretty good job, considering I almost face planted seven times.

I was about five feet from the fight, struggling to stay on my feet, when I shouted, "Okay! That's enough!" But my voice was barely audible due to the screaming Isaac, Erica, and Scott were doing. The three of them continued fighting. Erica was on top of Scott who was on top of Isaac. Boyd had finally noticed me, and he looked just about as horrified as I felt. Derek still hadn't noticed me; he was too engrossed in the fight. I was about to shout again, but someone collided with me from behind and threw me off my feet. I landed on my stomach with a groan and turned on my back and came face to face with none other than Stiles. "What the hell are you doing?" I hissed with narrowed eyes.

"Well I couldn't just let you do something stupid alone." He shrugged with a goofy grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Well thank you for joining me. Now get the hell off and help me up." He hesitated and raised an eyebrow at me. I groaned and rolled my eyes again. "_Please._"

"With pleasure." He rolled off of me and balanced himself on the ice before he bent down and grabbed my hand tightly. His grip was firm and warm and I had to not think about it as he helped me up. Once I was on my feet, I slipped a little but Stiles put his arm around my waist and helped me keep balance.

Erica got slammed into the ice again, and I conjured up my voice and screamed, "HEY!" Stiles cringed from the volume of my voice, but I would sacrifice his hearing for the sake of those idiots to stop fighting. "I said stop!" And they did. Scott let go of Isaac, who fell to his knees and Erica struggled to get up. I finally had Derek's attention, but I got the feeling I didn't want it. Boyd was just…looking indifferent.

"We should go back in the stadium…" Stiles whispered in my ear.

Yeah, we probably should have, but I had their attention now, and I wasn't just going to let it slip away. So I ignored the boy.

"What the hell does fighting one another do?" I asked, throwing my arms up in the air. I wobbled on my feet and Stiles' hand tightened around me to help keep me up. "Shouldn't you all be on the same side or something? I mean, aren't hunters plotting to kill you all? It's called team work, hello! I don't know if you werewolves are familiar with that term yet, but by the time I'm done yelling at you, you will."

"Who the _hell_ is she?" Derek asked, giving me a deep and unwelcoming scowl.

I masked his facial expression and tried to hide the nervous and jittery feeling he gave me. "I'm Breena. My _name_ is Breena. And you're Derek. The asshole who turned my best friend into a werewolf." His face went from pissed to annoyed to amused. But I gulped none-the-less, because his hard posture just threw me off.

"Breena," Erica's tone of voice came out as a warning as she stood up.

I directed my gaze towards her. "Oh, so now you decide to talk to me?" Guilt passed over her features but I pressed on. "You saw me yesterday and ignored me. Then you saw me twice today and ignored me then, too! But now you're talking. How convenient! But right now I don't want to listen to you. You're going to listen to _me_. So all of you shut up and listen. Okay? Okay. I may not have werewolf-y powers like all of you, but I guarantee I can rip all of your balls off. How scary would you be then, crying for your momma?" They stayed silent, staring at me with wide eyes. I definitely had their attention now. And if I chickened out on what I had to say, then this would have all of been for nothing. Not to mention, Scott would chew me out for being an idiot (which I was sure he was going to do anyway).

"Oh Jesus…" Stiles muttered. I shifted my eyes up at him sympathetically. I was sure all of this was hard enough a few weeks ago without me being a part of it. And now that I knew everything that there was to know, and being the impulsive person that I was, I wasn't making this any easier.

I could apologize for that later.

I gulped and directed myself towards Derek. "First of all, thank you, Mr. Alpha Wolf, for turning my best friend into a werewolf. Because without you, I never would have known the horrors that were out in there the world. And now I do! So thank you for that." His jaw clenched like he was holding back the urge to lash out at me. Or kill me. Or both. Then I looked at Erica. "And second of all, you could at least return a phone call. Or, I don't know, text me back. You have a seizure one day and then the next day you show up to school looking hotter than hell and you don't even talk to me. I have to learn from Scott and Stiles that you've become a mythological creature. You can imagine how nice that was for me. You're supposed to be my best friend. You're _supposed_ to tell me when you decide to become part woman part wolf!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Erica took a step towards me and I wobbled back with Stiles. I was too pissed to even listen to an apology from her. I ran my hands through my hair and then said, in a much calmer voice, "But just so you know, working together would be a whole lot easier. Because I, for one, do not want to scrape your werewolf remains from the concrete when Allison's crazy family kills you, okay!?" I looked back at my best friend and pleaded with her. "I love you! All of you need to get your shit together. Alright, I'm done. Continue killing each other or whatever it was that you were going to do. I'll see everyone at school tomorrow. Goodnight!" I lung my hand in the air at them and then turned and guided Stiles and myself back to the stadium before any one of them had the chance to rip my head off.

Once we were safely outside and away from the werewolves, I started shaking, and not from the cold. I was terrified. What the hell had gotten into me that I just rushed out there like that? I could have gotten myself killed! I could have gotten Stiles killed. We could have died and it would have been all my fault!

I wrapped my arms around myself and avoided Stiles' gaze. "I, uh, I'm sorry about that. I don't know why the hell I did that…"

"Actually, that was pretty brave. Stupid, but brave." He shrugged and flashed me a reassuring smile.

"You think?"

"Just don't do it again." He warned.

"Yeah, well, I hadn't planned on doing it in the first place…it just sort of happened. You think that speech did anything?" I asked with a little hope.

"Not at all." He said honestly, simmering out the little hope I had.

"Not even a little?"

"Nope. It was a nice effort, though." He patted me on the shoulder and then opened the passenger door of his jeep for me to get in. Scott and the others were still in the building. Fighting, probably. I didn't know and I didn't want to find out.

"Maybe they'll all stop being so thick headed and work together." I mumbled, climbing into the jeep and sighing tiredly.

"You don't know Derek." Stiles muttered with a roll of his eyes and then shut the door.

"I'm starting to figure him out." I whispered, leaning back in the seat.

**-X-**

Stiles and I sat idle in my driveway for five minutes, staying quiet, staring out the windshield. My dad's car was in the driveway. It was almost time for him to leave for work. "Is it going to be like this forever?" I finally asked.

"What?"

"Them at war. The hunters trying to kill them all." I turned to him and he turned to me, leaning against the door.

He shrugged and a look a slight defeat passed over his features. "Not forever. Just for right now."

I smiled slightly. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

He looked up at me with hooded eyes and I could tell he was in pain from that knot on his head. "No, it's supposed to make you weary. You have to be careful now." He confessed. But I already knew that.

"Yeah, well you have to be careful, too, you know." I pointed to the black and blue lump on his temple. "You're only human."

A wide grin spread on his face and he leaned towards me, his arms crossed. "Yeah, but I've been doing this longer than you." And even though he had explained to me what had happened a few weeks ago with Peter and Scott getting turned and Kate Argent losing her mind and trying to corrupt Allison, I would still never know the _whole story_. I wasn't there, so I could never really know. But I was here now and I was living it now. And there was no turning back. This world was a part and me and I was a part of it, and it would be that way for the rest of my life—however long that lasted.

I fiddled with my fingers in my lap and looked out the window towards my house. "Hey, uh, you wanna come in? Get some ice for your head. Maybe some Tylenol?"

"Yes." Stiles answered a little too quickly, and I couldn't help but to laugh.

"Okay." We got out of the jeep and I unlocked the door to my small, built for three house. When we walked in we were instantly consumed by the smell of spices and tomatoes. My stomach started growling on cue; my mom was making spaghetti. Yum. "Hey, mom!" I called, setting my keys on the little hook by the door.

My mom peeked her head out from behind the kitchen door and gave me a toothy smile. Unlike me, her dark brown hair was short and cropped at her chin, while mine was to my waist, and she was two inches taller than I was (she's 5'7 while I'm 5'5), but we shared the same light tan skin and dark blue eyes. "Hey honey! Oh, who's this?" She eyed Stiles curiously as she came into the living room slowly, her cane guiding her. Stiles watched her intently, but not in a questioning way. I expected him to ask about why she was limping and needed a cane to lean on, but to my surprise, he didn't even mention it.

I smiled and gave my mom a stern look, mentally yelling at her to not say anything embarrassing. Because, oh _god_, she was so embarrassing sometimes. "Mom, this is Stiles. He's a friend from school."

Her face lit up. "Oh, a friend!" She exclaimed happily.

I rolled my eyes and felt myself blush. "God, don't act so surprised." I groaned, slapping my head over my face. Stiles laughed and I shot a glare at him. He didn't stop, so I elbowed him in the ribs. 'Ow' He mouthed, holding his side. I gave him a fake, sweet smile and turned back to my mom, who was hiding a fit a giggles behind her hand.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just so used to only seeing Erica around the house." She waved it off and gave me a sheepish smile. I could see a twinkle in her eyes that just screamed POTENTIAL BOYFRIEND MATERIAL and I could have shot myself in the head at her obviousness. But then again, Stiles was kind of oblivious, so I thought that I would be okay. At least for now.

I bit my lip and saw Stiles turn away from me, rubbing the back of his head. I walked past my mom and into the kitchen. "Uh, we still have some Tylenol, right? Stiles got hurt during lacrosse practice and his head's hurting." Did I also mention that I was a fantastic liar? I mean, I told white lies every now and then, but never anything as dramatic as I would have to be telling now. Though, lying about Stiles getting hurt at lacrosse practice wasn't a huge lie. I was sure there would be more to come, though.

"Oh, sure, it's in the cabinet above the stove." My mom said, walking into the kitchen after me, Stiles trailing behind her.

"Where's dad?" I asked with raised brows. I had seen his car in the driveway, but I hadn't seen him anywhere in the house.

"Taking a shower. He has to leave early tonight so he's taking dinner to go." My mother and I shared a small, sad smile.

I started feeling myself frown, so I quickly changed the subject. "Um, I'll finish dinner." My mom's legs were trembling; they did that when she stood for longer than ten minutes. It was horrible and frustrating. "You go sit down."

"Are you sure? You have company." She looked over at Stiles, who was leaning against the counter next to the stove, on the other side of me.

"It's fine mom. Go sit down." I waved for her to go away and relax.

"Thank you, honey." She turned to leave, but then turned back to the teen boy. "Oh, Stiles, are you staying for dinner?" She asked with hope shining on her face, and my heart broke a little.

She asked him to stay for dinner because she really wanted him to stay. For me. She was excited that I had a friend over that wasn't Erica. (She loved Erica, she just wished that I was more social.) And she offered him our food knowing that we barely had enough for ourselves because she thought it would make me happy. And it did. It did make me happy. It also made me sad. My mom was amazing. And I loved her for it.

Stiles looked over at me, like he needed my permission. I laughed a little and shrug. He nodded to my mom and said, "Yeah, sure, that'd be great Mrs. Overton."

"Oh, call me Nora, sweetie." She called as the door swung shut behind her.

I sighed and turned back to the stove, where I reached to the cabinet and fumbled around for the Tylenol. I was too short to reach anything. A red hoodie cladded arm reached above me and pulled down the bottle of Tylenol. I smiled at Stiles, a little embarrassed, and turned away. I went to the fridge, opened the freezer, grabbed a bag from the drawer next to me, and put some ice in it. When I turned back around, Stiles was standing behind me. So incredibly close that I jumped back a little and felt my heart start race. Without taking my eyes from his, I held up the ice pack to him. He took it, his skin rubbing up against mine. This was going to sound cliché, and I honestly didn't care, but in that moment when our hands touched, I felt a surge of electricity shoot into my arm and spread throughout my body, creating a resonating warmth that lung on every limb. And for the first time, I was actually _noticing_ him. I mean, I'd noticed him before, and I always thought that he was pretty cute, but right now, standing so close to him in my kitchen, I _noticed_. I noticed the way his eyes looked a dark brown and then melted to a golden topaz. I noticed the moles on his face and neck. I noticed that little half smile his lips did when he wasn't paying attention. I noticed that it looked like he was noticing me, too…and that scared the hell out of me.

Suddenly the kitchen door swung open and Stiles and I jumped away from each other. He turned away from me and put the ice pack on his head. I coughed slightly and walked up to my dad and gave him a tight hug. I hoped that he didn't notice the flush that had, without a doubt, consumed my face. I looked up at my dad and smiled, and he smiled back and ruffled my hair. My dad was extremely tall, and being a security guard, pretty bulky, so he was intimidating to some people. But not to me. To me he was just a big 'ole teddy bear.

"Who's this?" He asked, eyeing Stiles, who had his back to us. He was at the stove, stirring the pasta sauce. He turned to my dad and waved at him awkwardly. My dad actually chuckled a little.

"This is Stiles, dad. He's a friend from school." I leaned closer to my dad and whispered, "Don't scare him away." He rolled his eyes at me and I stepped away from him. I grabbed a Tupperware container from the counter and put some noodles and sauce in it, then shut the lid and handed the container and a fork to my dad. "Have a good night. I love you." I gave him another hug and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you, too." He started to leave, but then turned back and raised an eyebrow at Stiles. "He's not staying the night, is he?" Stiles dropped the spoon he had been holding and I fumed, punching my dad in the arm. He made a face like it hurt, but I knew it only felt like a little tap.

"Dad! Jesus, go to work!" I wailed. He shrugged and left, shutting the door behind him. From the living room, I could hear him and my mom laughing as he told her what had just happened.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed two plates from the cabinet beside me. Stiles and I made our plates and then we sat down at the small table, round table and started eating. "So what does your dad do?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"He works in an office from six to five then works as a night security guard at the mall from eight to three in the morning."

"Is he ever at home?"

"Only on Sunday."

"That must be hard."

I shrugged and spun some noodles in my fork. I kept my eyes on my plate, because I knew Stiles was staring at me, and I knew if I stared back that I would get lost in those gorgeous eyes. "Yeah, it is. But we need the money, so you do what you have to do." We were quiet for a few seconds, enjoying our meal. Then I sighed and placed my fork down. I looked up at him and said, "You haven't asked."

"Asked what?" He looked up at me, slurping a noodle in his mouth.

"About my mom. Why she has a cane."

He shrugged lightly and sat up straighter in his seat. "I figured it's none of my business."

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine to be curious. I mean, if we're going to be friends now, we might as well _know_ each other." I bit my lip at his muteness.

He finally nodded and said, quietly, "I'd like that."

We were so engrossed in staring at each other, so when my mom popped her head into the kitchen, I jumped, my butt coming off my seat, and dropped my fork on the floor, sauce splattering on the table. My mom raised her eyebrows at me and said, "Honey, I'm going to bed."

"So early? You're not going to eat?"

She shook her head. "I'm not hungry tonight." A gave her a skeptical look but didn't argue. "Sleep well. Nice to meet you, Stiles." He turned around, nodded, and gave her a thumbs up because his mouth was so full of food. My mom waved at us and then left.

Stiles turned back around and sighed, leaning back in his chair, "God, I am such a dork."

I laughed and said, "Nah, don't worry about it. I'm her daughter, remember? She's used to it by now."

He was quiet for a minute and then asked what I had been waiting for him to ask, "So what did happen to your mom?"

I clasped my hands in my lap. "Five years ago she fell on the job. She was a doctor. There was no wet floor sign. She broke her back. Now she can't work and she's in pain every day." I told the short version and was surprised that I hadn't started crying. I usually did when I talked about what happened to my mom with someone. Not because I felt sorry for myself, no, but because I felt extremely sorry for her, because she was in so much damn pain every day and the lawyers didn't do a goddamn thing about it.

Stiles' mouth hung slightly ajar as he said, "Wow…that's…that's horrible."

I shrugged lightly and picked my fork up from the floor and walked over to the sink, where I rinsed it off and then sat back down. "Yeah, but the best thing about it is that she doesn't let it bring her down. Most people would drown in their self pity, but she doesn't. And that's amazing, y'know?" Stiles nodded in understanding.

And we stayed like that until one in the morning. Just talking. Talking about everything and talking about nothing. And even though we had school tomorrow, we just didn't care. By the time Stiles finally left, I didn't know if that late night conversation about ourselves and everything in between was the start of _something_ or just a friendship. Either way, whatever the outcome of our relationship was in the future, I knew I would be happy. And I had a feeling that in the days to come, I would so desperately need happy.

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**A/N: Good god this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Holy shit. Well, I mean, I felt there needed to be some Stiles-Breena fluff shit. So. :D**

**It's late as I'm posting this, so sorry if there are spelling errors. My b.**

**Thank you for all the reviews! **

**Please keep reviewing if you're enjoying the story! :) Reviews make me happy.**


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